Recliner chairs in use today are actuated by various methods to place the chair into the TV position in which the footrest is projected from the front of the chair. In one typical method, a handle resembling a lever at one side of the chair is grasped by the chair occupant and rotated in one direction. The handle is connected to a drive shaft which serves to drive a mechanism for projecting the footrest such as, for example, shown in my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,767,257, 4,071,275, 4,108,491, 4,226,469 and 4,188,062. In other chairs such as, for example, shown in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,387 wherein the footrest is projected by the weight of the chair occupant, the drive shaft is connected to a release which opens a lock mechanism to allow the footrest to move into the extended position solely through the force of gravity derived through the weight of the chair occupant. The reclining mechanism of the latter type of chair is sometimes referred to as a "gravity mechanism".
In other chairs such as those disclosed in Re' U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,958,827 and 3,941,417, actuation is achieved by the chair occupant applying pressure to the backrest which, through linkages, transfers forces to the footrest for extending the footrest into the TV position. Another actuating system utilizes the armrests of the chairs such as, for example, disclosed in my U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,185,869 and 4,249,772 for driving the footrest to the TV position.
Additionally, there are recliner chairs containing gravity mechanisms which are actuated by moving the seat through holding the armrests such as, for example, shown in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,418,957. Another chair actuated in the foregoing manner is disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 4,357,049.
Another type of actuator is disclosed in my pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 06/419,156, filed Sept. 17, 1982, entitled "Trigger Release Mechanism For Reclining Chair", wherein a small trigger in the form of a lever is mounted to one side of the chair at a conveniently elevated position to allow the chair occupant to actuate the chair through a flick of the trigger.
With all of the actuators described above, the prime actuator, whether it be a handle, trigger, backrest, armrests or seat, etc., it is necessary that the prime actuator or actuator movement be moved or occur in but one direction. At times, the latter requirement can confuse the chair occupant when he or she, for example, attempts to move the actuator handle in the wrong direction.